Three North teams in the semifinals? Who saw that coming? Not many people around the SoCon could have predicted that. Yet, here we are. That presents two very interesting semifinal match-ups to us for Sunday night ahead of Monday's Championship Game. Should be a great night of basketball on Sunday night.
And here...we...go....
UNC-Greensboro (1N) vs. Western Carolina (3N) (6:00 ESPN3/SoCon Sports Network)
The Story: The Spartans lost by four in Cullowhee back in December when they were struggling, and then won by three in Greensboro in overtime when they were playing better. Trevis Simpson will be the best player on the court, but Harouna Mutombo has shown a will to win so far in this tournament for Western Carolina. Trey Sumler also has been playing well. He is a good shooter, and if he can make some threes, the Catamounts hopes will be boosted. Look for Aloysius Henry to have a big impact on this game for the Spartans. At 6-10, he is a monster on the inside against Western Carolina. He should be able to control the game inside when he is in the game. If he does, the Spartans should do well. If he does not, the Catamounts will keep it close.
The Pick: UNCG 78, Western Carolina 72. The Spartans are ready for a big win and get to the championship game. Western Carolina should be tired playing their third game in three days. The Catamounts could win if Sumler is making shots and if Mutombo wills them to victory. There is a very good chance. But the Spartans played great against Appalachian State. Simpson is looking like he is closer to 100% than he was last weekend. This will be a hard fought, very interesting game.
Davidson (1S) vs. Elon (2N) (8:30 ESPN3/SoCon Sports Network)
The Story: Elon was hammered by Davidson on the Thursday before the regular season ended in Davidson in their only meeting of the year. Austin Hamilton only played six minutes against Georgia Southern. Will he play a lot of minutes against Davidson? He has still not recovered from mono, and that is the real problem for the Phoenix. But Jack Isenbarger can put a team on his back, and Lucas Troutman is a competitive player inside. But Davidson is an offensive force. Chris Czerapowicz and Tyler Kalinoski had big nights on Saturday night. If they continue to play that well, this will be a very difficult team to beat. Jake Cohen and De'Mon Brooks are the Players of the Year and are going to be tough to contain. But if any team can play as physical as the Wildcats, it is the Phoenix. The Wildcats have lost several times in the semifinals when they have been the heavy favorite in the tournament. How do they perform under the pressure?
The Pick: Davidson 78, Elon 67. The Wildcats are too efficient offensively. With Austin Hamilton still not able to play at 100%, the Phoenix are not going to be able to keep up for the full forty minutes. If Hamilton can play at even 85%, then this may be a different game. Isenbarger can carry the team if he needs to, but he can only carry them so far. Czerapowicz will hit some key threes.
John, you've done a great job in covering the SoCon all season, and you have outdone yourself in covering the tournament. Excellent work, I've enjoyed reading it all. I certainly hope your picking UNCG over Western in the semifinals brings us the same luck as your pick of Wofford over WCU in the quarterfinals. Three games in three days is tough.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jerry. I had a tough time with the Western-Wofford and Western-UNCG picks. I was VERY impressed with Western yesterday. After picking Western pre-tournament last year, I must be a little trigger shy on the Catamounts.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the way the North is performing so far in the tourney. That's been the bigger surprise than any one game has been. Turns out, instead of Charleston that we all picked last week in Scanning the SoCon, we should have picked Western. Few saw that coming.
I want Davidson to do well because they are the best team in the conference and give the SoCon the best chance in the NCAA Tournament. So I'm rooting for them kind of. But I also want North teams to be in the final. An all-North final would be something else.